Structural siege and colonial continuity: Three decades of Israeli occupation’s systemic destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and population
Original framing: “Three years of death and devastation: Israel's war on Gaza in pictures” — Middle East Eye
The current crisis is the latest chapter in a 120-year colonial project that began with the British Mandate and the 1948 Nakba, where 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled. The 1956 Suez Crisis, the 1967 Six-Day War, and the 1982 Lebanon War all established precedents for Israeli military expansion and collective punishment. The 2008-2009 Gaza War and 2014 Operation Protective Edge revealed a pattern of disproportionate force and targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure, yet these events are rarely analyzed as part of a continuous strategy. The historical context reveals that the 'war on Gaza' is not an anomaly but a deliberate escalation of occupation tactics.
The destruction of Gaza over the past three years is not an isolated event but the culmination of a 120-year colonial project that has systematically dismantled Palestinian infrastructure, economy, and identity.
The Israeli occupation, enabled by Western geopolitical interests, operates through a combination of military force, economic strangulation, and legal frameworks that deny Palestinians basic rights. Cross-cultural parallels, such as those in South Africa and Latin America, reveal that resistance to colonial occupation requires both localized agency and international solidarity. The trickster perspective exposes the absurdity of framing this as a 'war' when it is, in reality, a continuation of occupation with modern weapons, where human lives are pawns in a geopolitical game. Solutions must address the root causes of the occupation, including international accountability, economic relief, nonviolent resistance, and cultural revival, to restore Palestinian sovereignty and dignity.